Mega Millions $640 Million Jackpot Is Largest In World History

STATE — The Mega Millions jackpot has reached historic proportions. With no jackpot winner in Tuesday’s drawing, the top prize for tonight is an estimated $640 million. This is the largest lottery jackpot in world history, surpassing the previous record of $390 million.

If one ticket matches all six numbers for the half-billion dollar mega-jackpot, the winner would have the choice of receiving the full jackpot in 26 annual payments of about $24.6 million, or a cash option of approximately $462 million.

“Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing will truly be a spectacular event in lottery history and provides an unprecedented opportunity for players to take a chance on a half-billion dollar dream for just the $1 price of a ticket,” said Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery and lead director for the Mega Millions group.

More than 4.7 million tickets won prizes in Tuesday’s drawing, including four tickets that each won $1 million and 43 tickets that each won $250,000.

Two of the $250,000-winning tickets were sold in New Jersey: one at Shop Rite of Hackensack, the other at Crock-A-Deli in Cranbury.

Fifteen New Jersey lottery players won $10,000. The winning tickets were sold at these locations:

Shop Rite #572, in Bordentown

Cork N Bottle Liquors in Haddonfield;

Pathmark #223 in Newark

Quick Stop in Orange

Quick Chek #59 in Roseland

Pantry 1 Food Mart in Mount Royal;

Central Avenue Liquors in Jersey City

Ledgewood Gulf in Jersey City

7-11 #26629 (S) in West Trenton

Liquor City South in North Brunswick

Midtown Liquors in Rockaway

Drum Point Exxon in Brick

Quick Chek #102 in Manchester

A + P in Basking Ridge

Wald Drugs in Somerville

In addition to the Garden State ‘s second and third prize winners, 322,745 other New Jersey players took home $1,294,846 in prizes ranging from $2 to $150, according to New Jersey Lottery Executive Director Carole Hedinger.

The winning numbers for the Tuesday, March 27, drawing were: 09, 19, 34, 44, and 51 and the Gold Mega Ball number was 24. The Megaplier number was 03.

The jackpot for the March 30 drawing was originally estimated at $476 million, but with stronger than anticipated sales nationwide, it became clear that the jackpot for Friday’s drawing would be much larger.

The high sales figures mean more than just a mega-jackpot amount; they mean greater profits to benefit each state in which Mega Millions is played. Each participating state’s legislature determines how its Mega Millions profits are allocated. In many states, profits are earmarked for education. The beneficiaries in other states include parks, natural resources, property tax relief, programs to help the elderly and several other important causes.

This jackpot has been growing since Jan. 24, when Mega Millions had its most recent jackpot winner. The jackpot has now rolled 18 times without a winner. The odds of winning the jackpot are approximately one in 176 million. The odds of winning any of the Mega Millions prizes are approximately 1 in 40.

Mega Millions is played in 44 jurisdictions (42 states plus the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands). Drawings are held Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. Eastern Time. You can watch live drawings on the New Jersey Lottery’s website, NJLottery.net